BB: SCAC: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[nvnorthpaw]

SCAC-West definitely is always tough and somewhat unpredictable.  Milsaps will always have some big hitters but I don't think anyone plays as fundamentally sound as Trinity.  I think they will take the west followed closely by Milsaps and Austin.  Hendrix is improving but is very young again this year with something like 14 freshman on the team.  They lost a game to Ozarks tuesday that was much closer than the score implies. 

[Ralph Turner]

Welcome nvnorthpaw!

Whom do you follow most closely? 

[nvnorthpaw]

Hendrix most closely followed closely by Cal Lutheran.

[frank_ezelle]

The Millsaps season opener will be webcast at 3:00 Central today as they try to defeat LaGrange College and give Millsaps Head Coach Jim Page his 500th career victory.

Here's a link to the Millsaps baseball page where you can find a season preview, the 2009 roster, and at the bottom right of the page is the link for the webcast--most of the Millsaps games will be webcast this season:

http://www.gomajors.com/index.aspx?path=baseball&tab=baseball

Note:  Millsaps will play U. of Ozarks Saturday at 11:30 and then Rhodes College Sunday at 2:30.  The weather forecast is sunny all weekend with lows in the 50's and highs in the mid-70's.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps opened up the season with a 12-8 victory over LaGrange to give Coach Jim Page his 500th victory.  It was a nip and tuck game with Millsaps taking an early lead, LaGrange hitting 2 or 3 home runs to go up 8-5 (I believe), and Millsaps rallying for the victory. 

One of the key plays of the game was a Millsaps triple where the LaGrange outfielder simply lost the ball right from the start.  I'm not sure if an out there instead of a triple would have changed to outcome, but that was a big momentum swing.

Here's a link to a partial story on the Millsaps website:  http://www.gomajors.com/news/2009/2/6/BB_0206091232.aspx

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps takes their second win of the season with a 9-5 victory over the U. of the Ozarks.  Tait Hendrix started the game and went 4+ innings, Boomer Hudson came in and pitched the remainer of the game, giving up 1 hit and earning his first college victory. 

The first HR for the Majors this year came from catcher Tyler Berry and the second came from freshman 2nd baseman Todd Barnthouse who added 2 doubles in a 3 for 4 day.  A more familiar name, Hunter Owen, had the third and final HR for the Majors as he extended his hitting streak to 14 games stretching over 2 seasons.

Rhodes also won their first game yesterday, something like 15-8 over the Ozarks.  Their game today with LaGrange is scheduled to start shortly.  Millsaps and Rhodes will play tomorrow at approximately 2:30 and that game will be webcast as will the Monday and Tuesday games at Piedmont and the Wednesday game where Millsaps hosts Huntingdon.

What I have learned over the last few years is that these two wins are huge for Millsaps and the next 4 games are critical.  If you are playing a D3 team, there is no such thing as a non-critical game.  Every team in the SCAC has less than a 50-50 chance to win the league's automatic qualifier.  Let's just say you have Millsaps, Trinity, Rhodes, DePauw and 2 other SCAC teams of your choosing in a 6-team tournament.  If you were a betting person, would you take an even bet with any of those teams against the field?  I wouldn't. 

Therefore, you had better play well enough during the regular season to give yourself a chance at an at-large berth.  That all comes down to your regional ranking and a game played in early February carries just as much weight as one played in April.  Come Thursday morning, it will be a huge boost to the Millsaps playoff hopes if they are 6-0 or at least 5-1.  As for the game tomorrow between Rhodes and Millsaps, don't be surprised if we look back at the game at the end of the season and see that the results of this game put one team in the NCAA's and kept the other team out.

[nvnorthpaw]

Hendrix had a rough opening home set vs. U. of Dallas although there were several bright spots.  As soon as the big bats come around they should be fine.  Note: the second game featured something like eight freshman in the line-up..

[Ralph Turner]

...

What I have learned over the last few years is that these two wins are huge for Millsaps and the next 4 games are critical.  If you are playing a D3 team, there is no such thing as a non-critical game.  Every team in the SCAC has less than a 50-50 chance to win the league's automatic qualifier.  Let's just say you have Millsaps, Trinity, Rhodes, DePauw and 2 other SCAC teams of your choosing in a 6-team tournament.  If you were a betting person, would you take an even bet with any of those teams against the field?  I wouldn't. 

Therefore, you had better play well enough during the regular season to give yourself a chance at an at-large berth.  That all comes down to your regional ranking and a game played in early February carries just as much weight as one played in April.  Come Thursday morning, it will be a huge boost to the Millsaps playoff hopes if they are 6-0 or at least 5-1.  As for the game tomorrow between Rhodes and Millsaps, don't be surprised if we look back at the game at the end of the season and see that the results of this game put one team in the NCAA's and kept the other team out.

Absolutely, there is too much parity in D-III to permit losing even a single game, especially an in-region game.

As for Pool C at-large bids, there are only 14 to distribute among the 320 schools that fighting for them. 

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps are scheduled to play at 2:30 Central time this afternoon.  The time may vary slightly since they are following the 11:00 game between U. of the Ozarks and LaGrange, two teams trying to get their first win of the weekend.

Here are some links:

Rhodes had live stats yesterday.  If they have them today you should be able to find them at this link:  http://www.rhodeslynx.com/schedules.asp?path=baseball

Millsaps will webcast at this link:  http://www.atwsportscast.com/Colleges/Players/Millsaps%20College.htm

Photos for the Millsaps vs. LaGrange game and the recognition ceremony for Coach Page's 500th career victory can be found here:  http://gomajors.smugmug.com/Millsaps_College_2008-09/712001

[dgilblair]

Millsaps are scheduled to play at 2:30 Central time this afternoon.  The time may vary slightly since they are following the 11:00 game between U. of the Ozarks and LaGrange, two teams trying to get their first win of the weekend.

Here are some links:

Rhodes had live stats yesterday.  If they have them today you should be able to find them at this link:  http://www.rhodeslynx.com/schedules.asp?path=baseball

Millsaps will webcast at this link:  http://www.atwsportscast.com/Colleges/Players/Millsaps%20College.htm

Photos for the Millsaps vs. LaGrange game and the recognition ceremony for Coach Page's 500th career victory can be found here:  http://gomajors.smugmug.com/Millsaps_College_2008-09/712001

Thanks for the link.  It's nice to see some action.

[Ralph Turner]

Millsaps are scheduled to play at 2:30 Central time this afternoon.  The time may vary slightly since they are following the 11:00 game between U. of the Ozarks and LaGrange, two teams trying to get their first win of the weekend.

Here are some links:

Rhodes had live stats yesterday.  If they have them today you should be able to find them at this link:  http://www.rhodeslynx.com/schedules.asp?path=baseball

Millsaps will webcast at this link:  http://www.atwsportscast.com/Colleges/Players/Millsaps%20College.htm

Photos for the Millsaps vs. LaGrange game and the recognition ceremony for Coach Page's 500th career victory can be found here:  http://gomajors.smugmug.com/Millsaps_College_2008-09/712001

Thanks for the link.  It's nice to see some action.

Eat your heart out, you frozen Yankees!

How many feet of snow are snowblown into that corner of your yard?

[Ralph Turner]

Frank, the difference between this year's Majors and last year's is that they have that "Leave No Doubt" urgency about them!

Millsaps leads 7-2 bottom of the 3rd.

[lynxbackstop]

Lynx tied with Millsaps 13-13 as i write this post...so much for the offense being a question mark for Rhodes this year.

[dgilblair]

Millsaps are scheduled to play at 2:30 Central time this afternoon.  The time may vary slightly since they are following the 11:00 game between U. of the Ozarks and LaGrange, two teams trying to get their first win of the weekend.

Here are some links:

Rhodes had live stats yesterday.  If they have them today you should be able to find them at this link:  http://www.rhodeslynx.com/schedules.asp?path=baseball

Millsaps will webcast at this link:  http://www.atwsportscast.com/Colleges/Players/Millsaps%20College.htm

Photos for the Millsaps vs. LaGrange game and the recognition ceremony for Coach Page's 500th career victory can be found here:  http://gomajors.smugmug.com/Millsaps_College_2008-09/712001

Thanks for the link.  It's nice to see some action.

Eat your heart out, you frozen Yankees!

How many feet of snow are snowblown into that corner of your yard?

Hahaha.....trust me we are.  Still have some snowbanks a couple feet high but it's melting fast, 50 above zero today.  Was nice to see some action and all that green grass. 

Millsaps and Rhodes pounded out some runs.  Quite a few homers too.

[frank_ezelle]

Rhodes live stats shows the game at 13-13.  Millsaps actually scored in the bottom of the 8th to go up 14-13 and then held Rhodes scoreless for only the second inning of the game to win 14-13.  Millsaps scored in all but one of their eight innings.

There were two buses in the parking lot at the end of the game as Millsaps also is hitting the road tonight for an afternoon game at Piedmont tomorrow.  Opening the season with 6 D3 Regional games in 6 days is a gamble which has paid off at the halfway point.  I would think that Millsaps will go back to the 3 starters again since none of them pitch more than 5 innings this weekend.  THESE GAMES AT PIEDMONT WILL BE WEBCAST.

The Millsaps schedule shows tomorrow's game at 2:00 and I'm thinking that Central time.  You can see the Millsaps schedule at the following link and if you click on details you will see link for the webcast.

http://www.gomajors.com/schedule.aspx?path=baseball